What is Society?

= Society is organized,
deliberately structured and
formalized, and bound by rules,
drafted and implemented by the
people who themselves constitute
society.
EARLY THEORIES OF SOCIETY
Max Weber
= introduced the idea of
“rationalization”, which means that
inside society, human actions, behaviors,
patterns of activities, and decision
making were done in a more efficient,
legal, and logical manner, which
maximizes the fullest potential of society
itself and minimizes loss of resources.
= a rational mind imposes control and
order in a society
 HISTORICAL
MATERIALISM
AND KARL
MARX
Karl Marx
A German social thinker in 19th century
Critiquing primarily a society
characterized by unparalleled economic
process such as capitalism and
industrialization.
He saw a “modern society” as not an end
in itself but a transitional phase of what he
believed is a historical shaped order -
SOCIALISM
Karl Marx
He viewed “modern society” from a
perspective of economy – the material
conditions of the people – lies in the
core of his social theory.
He adopted the Hegelian (ideas of
Goerg Wilhelm Hegel, a German
philosopher of the late 18th and early
19th century) concept of “dialectics”
 “DIALECTICS”
– Refers to the process of movement and change
in human society.
 There had been opposing forces in human
society – the so-called “thesis” and “antithesis”
that clash with one another, shape one another,
and, as a consequence, create new forms that
are the “synthesis” of two diametrically
opposed forces.
 The result is a new situation, a new order, and
a new structure, which has elements from the
two opposing natures and entities.
KARL MARX
> Marx called the owner of the factory (or any
piece of technology) as a capitalists; and the
workers , the proletariat.
> Social relations depend on who owns or
controls the means of production (land,
technology, and capital) – in this case the
capitalist. Anyone going into this capitalist
system enter a definite social relation
determined by “relations of production.
Anyone who controls the capital (raw
materials and the means of production)
becomes the ruling class.
KARL MARX
> According to him, society consists of two
parts; first, “base”, which is the economy;
and second, the “superstructure”, which
consists of social structures such as
religion, family, law, government, and
culture, values, etc. the rest on top of the
economic base.
> The class that controls the base shall
control the social structures of society.
KARL MARX
> Marx saw cultural forms as not only
economic in nature but also “ideological”
because they represent the interest of the
ruling class. This ideology is not at all
easily realized by both the proletariat and
the ruling elite because reality is disguised
due to long history of having been
involved with such system of relationship.
Modes of Means of Characteristic Historical
Production Production Period
Primitive Foraging in Nature Tribal Society, Prehistory
Communism No ruling Classes
Egalitarian
Ancient Mode of Slave Labor Ancient society Ancient Times
Production Ruling Class exists

Feudalism Land Reciprocal relations Medieval Period

between landlord and
peasants
Capitalism Machines, factories Ruling class exploiting Industrial, Capitalist
the working class Society
Socialism Publicly and Production intended to Postcapitalism
collectively owned directly satisfy human
machines, factories, needs
and other productive
forces
Communism Publicly and “Perfect and Ideal” Hypothetical future
collectively owned System of human
machines, factories, affairs
and other productive
forces
After society: how do we make sense
of an ever-changing “us” and
“them ?
THE ERA OF MANY “Posts”

•Postcolonialism

•Postmodernism

•Globalization-Beyond Economics

•Gender Theory
Postcolonialism
Postcolonialism
Postcolonialism is closer to our hearts and
experiences as a nation simply because we were at
the receiving end of colonialism for almost 400
years under two different colonial masters, the
Spaniards and the Americans respectively.
Postcolonialism is a reaction to the idea and effects
of colonialism not only in terms of how it created
visible and tangible forms of power relations
between the colonizers and the colonized, but also
in terms of how it was able to manufacture invisible
and ideological forms of unequal relationship.
 Developed out of architecture and literary criticism in
the 1980’s has created ripples in Social science,
postmodernism believes that science is, itself, a human
construct, a product of a particular time, specific
sociocultural context and situation. Postmodernism,
jugging from the label, is a reaction to the dominant
theme of modernity, which has been a cornerstone of
19th-20th century social theory. Postmodernism became a
fad among scholars and academics, but over the course
of years, it went out of style nonetheless.
 Globalization-Beyond
Economics
With globalization, physical geography and time shrink. Thanks to unparalleled
progress in science and technology, especially in the fields of transportation and
communication, what used to take too long to do or accomplish is easily carried out at
the tip of the finger. Computers and the Internet blossomed and forever changed how
we view and experience life in general. Think, too of the number of times we saw DVDs
being sold in the tiangge or busy sidewalks of population districs. Globalization works
positively for us, but it can also create new problems to worry about in the present and
in the near future.
 Gender Theory
“sex” becomes a major category that was given much attention and analysis under
this framework. From the idea of sex, the concept of “gender” was enriched and
cultivated not only by social theory but also by certain concerned sectors of society.
With a more heightened awareness and sensitivity to gender, society shall not be
limited to what biological two-sex category will offer. It will require the fact that the
two-sex category-a heteronormative system-is not sufficient to fully account for the
diversity and fluidity identities. Gender, since it is a set of ideas pertaining to
differences between and among people, has been regarded as an ideology, that is
embedded ideas in being a man or a woman, or being a person categorized as
neither man or woman.